Today's Failbook fail: I'm Sure It Happens All the Time...
You know what the world needs more of? Hatred of fat people. Especially fat women. How dare they walk around with their fat, even post pictures of their fat online?!!? THE INTERNET IS FOR SKINNY PEOPLE, YOU FATTIE FAT FATSO!
And this girl has the temerity to say that people mistake her for Megan Fox! I mean, her face is blurred out of this post, so maybe there is a facial resemblance, but my stars, if you are fat you by definition cannot resemble anyone attractive!
The really sad thing is, this girl seems cool. She seems fun and funny -- I love her Simpsons shrt -- and by condemning her with no more than her own photos and one-line status update, I feel like Failbook just throws her into the garbage can without so much as a "buh-bye." Like, she's fat, so she's beneath even their assholish commentary. Oh, well, there is the title, as well as the hashtags: "facepalm," "image," and "really?"
The comments are a mix. There are some people saying, rightfully, "Don’t resort to making fun of somebody who made a self-deprecating joke and isn’t considered pretty because she’s heavy." And then there are people who are saying to man the harpoons, and furthermore, "I say we enact hunting to get the population under control." If that sounds eliminationist to you, it's because it fucking is.
Heads up, all: fat people have a right to exist. They are not a different species as thin people are. They have a right to be in the same spaces as you, whether that's Facebook, public transportation, a restaurant, or your workplace. Moreover, fat women can be pretty. Fat men can be hot. Stop acting like all these ideas are so friggin' radical. They're not. They're simple courtesy and recognition of reality.
Showing posts with label fat hatred. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fat hatred. Show all posts
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Monday, February 7, 2011
Short Failbook Fail: Screw Assumptions
Today's Failbook fail: Trailer Tatty.
This post, my friends, is the motherlode of classism. Someone posts a quote by Winnie the Pooh (except, excuse me, I read that book when I was little, and that quote is not A.A. Milne, but I suppose that's beside the point). Commenter #1 says they want a tattoo of Winnie the Pooh. Commenter #2 racks up the following assertions about those with "cartoon character tattoos":
Underneath all these seemingly unconnected statements, of course, is the assumption that poor people are stupid. They get stupid tattoos, parent in a stupid fashion, shop at stupid stores, and wear stupid hairstyles. Never mind that their income level and their intelligence may not be related. (Education and income are generally highly correlated, but innate intelligence pops up in people regardless of their background.) If you are poor, you are stupid; you are worthless; you deserve my mockery. That's what Commenter #2 needed to say to Commenter #1, who only wanted to get an image of a cartoon bear emblazoned on her skin.
Look, if someone wants to get an "88" tattooed on their arm, I can say with high confidence that that person is a racist, anti-Semitic assclown. But if someone wants a Winnie the Pooh tattoo, the only thing I can say with high confidence is that they like Winnie the Pooh. But I don't know their income level, their haircut, or whether they're a good parent (or a parent at all).
I feel like three-quarters of my posts are about not making dumbass assumptions about other people. If we could all adhere to that one tenet, what a lovely world this world would be.
This post, my friends, is the motherlode of classism. Someone posts a quote by Winnie the Pooh (except, excuse me, I read that book when I was little, and that quote is not A.A. Milne, but I suppose that's beside the point). Commenter #1 says they want a tattoo of Winnie the Pooh. Commenter #2 racks up the following assertions about those with "cartoon character tattoos":
- They live in trailer parks.
- They are fat.
- They abuse their children.
- They frequent Wal-Mart.
- They cannot read.
- They have mullets.
- They love wrestling.
Underneath all these seemingly unconnected statements, of course, is the assumption that poor people are stupid. They get stupid tattoos, parent in a stupid fashion, shop at stupid stores, and wear stupid hairstyles. Never mind that their income level and their intelligence may not be related. (Education and income are generally highly correlated, but innate intelligence pops up in people regardless of their background.) If you are poor, you are stupid; you are worthless; you deserve my mockery. That's what Commenter #2 needed to say to Commenter #1, who only wanted to get an image of a cartoon bear emblazoned on her skin.
Look, if someone wants to get an "88" tattooed on their arm, I can say with high confidence that that person is a racist, anti-Semitic assclown. But if someone wants a Winnie the Pooh tattoo, the only thing I can say with high confidence is that they like Winnie the Pooh. But I don't know their income level, their haircut, or whether they're a good parent (or a parent at all).
I feel like three-quarters of my posts are about not making dumbass assumptions about other people. If we could all adhere to that one tenet, what a lovely world this world would be.
Thursday, January 27, 2011
You Make J.K. Rowling Cry
Today's Failbook fail: Welcome to the Wizarding World of Fat Puns!
Sorry about yesterday's failure to post, everyone. I live in the catchment area of the worst power company in the nation, so any time the D.C. area gets "weather" (of any kind), I'm without Internet. Last night I went to bed super-early and read a John Irving novel by the light of a hand-cranked flashlight. I felt like a damn pioneer girl.
Anyway, onto today's Failbook fail. This is one of those fails that does not inspire my outrage, only my contempt. It's just a bunch of jackasses making Harry Potter-related "yo momma" jokes, with the predictable fat hatred and lookism (e.g. "Your momma's so fat she has the Goblet of Gravy").
Honestly, as an avowed Harry Potter lover, these just make me sad. Why take a series that is essentially life-affirming and moral and use it for this crappy schtick? Can't you base your stupid fat jokes on Twilight, or Atlas Shrugged? Or, better yet, don't hate people on the basis of their weight, but that's asking for the moon, I know.
Sorry about yesterday's failure to post, everyone. I live in the catchment area of the worst power company in the nation, so any time the D.C. area gets "weather" (of any kind), I'm without Internet. Last night I went to bed super-early and read a John Irving novel by the light of a hand-cranked flashlight. I felt like a damn pioneer girl.
Anyway, onto today's Failbook fail. This is one of those fails that does not inspire my outrage, only my contempt. It's just a bunch of jackasses making Harry Potter-related "yo momma" jokes, with the predictable fat hatred and lookism (e.g. "Your momma's so fat she has the Goblet of Gravy").
Honestly, as an avowed Harry Potter lover, these just make me sad. Why take a series that is essentially life-affirming and moral and use it for this crappy schtick? Can't you base your stupid fat jokes on Twilight, or Atlas Shrugged? Or, better yet, don't hate people on the basis of their weight, but that's asking for the moon, I know.
Thursday, January 20, 2011
I Have to Go Cry Myself to Sleep Now.
Today's Failbook fail: FAILy nd Frens.
Congratulations, Failbook. Today's fail is the first one of the 35ish I've posted that has literally made me sick to my stomach.
The whole fail -- THE WHOLE THING -- is just a photo of a fat Black woman holding the ASL "I love you" sign in front of a prison visiting room window, behind which her Black partner (boyfriend? husband?), decked out in prison orange, looks really happy to see her.
The photo, which was posted by the woman, is captioned, "tyrone gonna bail out soon baby i love you hang i there!"
That's the "fail." The "fail" is that this Black woman is audacious enough to love a Black man in prison. The "fail" is not that America has jailed so many Black men. The "fail" is not that America continues to oppress Black people, creating ghettos, economic instability, childhood malnutrition, lack of education, and through-the-roof homicide rates.
Look, I don't know what this poor guy did (if anything). But just looking at their faces, it's really hard for me to believe that the guy is, say, a murderer. (Would he be about to be let out on bail if he were? Probably not.) Nine chances out of ten, he got thrown in there for some minor drug offense. He has a partner who loves him and came to visit him in jail. She smiled as she snapped a photo of the two of them together in the only way they could be in that moment. And Failbook labeled it "fail."
I sincerely hope this couple never finds the Failbook post about them. If they do, I hope they don't scroll down to see the comments such as:
Congratulations, Failbook. Today's fail is the first one of the 35ish I've posted that has literally made me sick to my stomach.
The whole fail -- THE WHOLE THING -- is just a photo of a fat Black woman holding the ASL "I love you" sign in front of a prison visiting room window, behind which her Black partner (boyfriend? husband?), decked out in prison orange, looks really happy to see her.
The photo, which was posted by the woman, is captioned, "tyrone gonna bail out soon baby i love you hang i there!"
That's the "fail." The "fail" is that this Black woman is audacious enough to love a Black man in prison. The "fail" is not that America has jailed so many Black men. The "fail" is not that America continues to oppress Black people, creating ghettos, economic instability, childhood malnutrition, lack of education, and through-the-roof homicide rates.
Look, I don't know what this poor guy did (if anything). But just looking at their faces, it's really hard for me to believe that the guy is, say, a murderer. (Would he be about to be let out on bail if he were? Probably not.) Nine chances out of ten, he got thrown in there for some minor drug offense. He has a partner who loves him and came to visit him in jail. She smiled as she snapped a photo of the two of them together in the only way they could be in that moment. And Failbook labeled it "fail."
I sincerely hope this couple never finds the Failbook post about them. If they do, I hope they don't scroll down to see the comments such as:
- "jeez, just ship them back to africa for god’s sake…"
- "Wunn munckeey enn kaje. Uthhuur owt." (Or, in actual English, "One monkey in cage. Other out.")
- "send them to africa! they already claim it partially as their nationality. i don’t hyphenate it, i am american!"
- "Wonder how many crotch droppings she’s toting around."
Monday, January 17, 2011
"I think I have bronchitis." "Never mind that, how 'bout a nose job?"
Today's Failbook fail: Bedside Manner.
The exchange that goes most of the way through the comments on this status is near and dear to my heart. I'm troubled by the medical profession a) upselling patients on entirely cosmetic services, and b) fat-shaming patients to the extent that they don't want to seek medical attention anymore.
To expand more on (a): this has happened to me quite a bit recently. I've moved, so I've had new dentists a couple times in the last three years. Every time I fill out a new patient intake form, I've had to answer bullshit questions like, "If you could change one thing about your smile, what would it be?" and "Are your teeth as white as you'd like them to be?" This angers me. I'm seeking medical attention, but instead of having my issues addressed, I'm being pressured to purchase things that will not make me healthier, just make the dentists richer. The same thing happens in dermatologists' offices (seeking treatment for a rash, I was made to fill out a form almost begging me to take an interest in Botox) and at the nutritionist (I was there because of an endocrine disorder, but hammered with offers for weight-loss products).
It's my opinion that this is a real violation of trust inherent in the doctor/patient relationship. But instead of going on and on about this, I'll merely point out that the patient in this Failbook post has a perfectly valid point. Why would a pediatrician's first question to her young patient be, "What are you doing about your acne?" This is bordering on unethical. Surely the appropriate first question is if she's been feeling all right lately and/or has any concerns or complaints.
Acne is not life-threatening. In all but a handful of cases, it is annoying but cosmetic, and disappears for most people naturally around age 20. Some adolescents feel strongly enough about their acne that they treat it, even when the treatments can have heavy side effects. Others prefer to let acne run its course. And most kids fall somewhere in the middle, putting Noxzema on it when it gets bad. These are all valid options, and a doctor shouldn't make acne an issue unless a patient brings it up.
Now, (b) is a much bigger issue. Others have written about it far more eloquently than I, but I'll make a few points:
If you guessed, "Some dude jumped into the thread and mansplained why the girls are OH SO WRONG," ten points to you!! And BRAVO. You truly know the power of the mansplanation.
Anyway, some jackass pops in and mouths crap about how these girls want their doctor to "pussyfoot" and "sugarcoat." No, they want their doctors to treat them with respect. I know, it's a radical notion: treating a pimply, fat teenage girl with respect?? ABSURD. NOT WHILE I STILL HAVE BREATH IN MY BODY.
The exchange that goes most of the way through the comments on this status is near and dear to my heart. I'm troubled by the medical profession a) upselling patients on entirely cosmetic services, and b) fat-shaming patients to the extent that they don't want to seek medical attention anymore.
To expand more on (a): this has happened to me quite a bit recently. I've moved, so I've had new dentists a couple times in the last three years. Every time I fill out a new patient intake form, I've had to answer bullshit questions like, "If you could change one thing about your smile, what would it be?" and "Are your teeth as white as you'd like them to be?" This angers me. I'm seeking medical attention, but instead of having my issues addressed, I'm being pressured to purchase things that will not make me healthier, just make the dentists richer. The same thing happens in dermatologists' offices (seeking treatment for a rash, I was made to fill out a form almost begging me to take an interest in Botox) and at the nutritionist (I was there because of an endocrine disorder, but hammered with offers for weight-loss products).
It's my opinion that this is a real violation of trust inherent in the doctor/patient relationship. But instead of going on and on about this, I'll merely point out that the patient in this Failbook post has a perfectly valid point. Why would a pediatrician's first question to her young patient be, "What are you doing about your acne?" This is bordering on unethical. Surely the appropriate first question is if she's been feeling all right lately and/or has any concerns or complaints.
Acne is not life-threatening. In all but a handful of cases, it is annoying but cosmetic, and disappears for most people naturally around age 20. Some adolescents feel strongly enough about their acne that they treat it, even when the treatments can have heavy side effects. Others prefer to let acne run its course. And most kids fall somewhere in the middle, putting Noxzema on it when it gets bad. These are all valid options, and a doctor shouldn't make acne an issue unless a patient brings it up.
Now, (b) is a much bigger issue. Others have written about it far more eloquently than I, but I'll make a few points:
- Shaming patients for their weight does not inspire them to keep up on medical care for themselves.
- Fat does not equal unhealthy.
- Changing your diet to lose weight does not work.
- If this doctor should be recommending anything, it's physical activity (which this girl may already be engaging in! -- who knows if the doctor even asked).
If you guessed, "Some dude jumped into the thread and mansplained why the girls are OH SO WRONG," ten points to you!! And BRAVO. You truly know the power of the mansplanation.
Anyway, some jackass pops in and mouths crap about how these girls want their doctor to "pussyfoot" and "sugarcoat." No, they want their doctors to treat them with respect. I know, it's a radical notion: treating a pimply, fat teenage girl with respect?? ABSURD. NOT WHILE I STILL HAVE BREATH IN MY BODY.
Friday, January 7, 2011
I'll See Your Self-Hatred and Raise You My Body Policing
Today's Failbook fail: Resolution Support FAIL.
A woman thinks she is fat! Her father concurs! The woman is upset!
Ha ha ha ha, I'm wiping the tears from my eyes, OMG you guys, this is so edgy and hilarious, we have to get it on Failbook!! SHE'S FAT!! Do you get it?!?!? FAAAAT. AND HER FATHER IS ALL, "YEAH YOU ARE." Do you get it?????? He's supposed to be one of the very few people in the world who loves her unconditionally, one of the tiny number of souls on Earth who are supposed to help her cut through the body hatred that her culture heaps upon her so that she can exist without hating her very self, BUT HE TOTALLY CALLED OUT HER BUTT FAT INSTEAD!!!! HILARIOUS!!!
A woman thinks she is fat! Her father concurs! The woman is upset!
Ha ha ha ha, I'm wiping the tears from my eyes, OMG you guys, this is so edgy and hilarious, we have to get it on Failbook!! SHE'S FAT!! Do you get it?!?!? FAAAAT. AND HER FATHER IS ALL, "YEAH YOU ARE." Do you get it?????? He's supposed to be one of the very few people in the world who loves her unconditionally, one of the tiny number of souls on Earth who are supposed to help her cut through the body hatred that her culture heaps upon her so that she can exist without hating her very self, BUT HE TOTALLY CALLED OUT HER BUTT FAT INSTEAD!!!! HILARIOUS!!!
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Bro? Duuuude.
Today's Failbook fail: Cheers!
Dude: i have a beer as cold as my ex girlfriend's heart
Other dude: When you get one as big as her ASS...let me know!
Then the first dude, like, high-fives his dudebro. Bros before hos, amirite?!?!?
Look, I don't know this gentleman's former ladyfriend. Perhaps she is cold-hearted. But I think there is a greater probability that he's disrespecting her because he is bitter.
And then his dudebro chimes in, "ALSO SHE WAS FAT LOLOLOLOL." This is not an insult, but these two brodudes clearly think it is.
I'm beginning to see why the two of you broke up, jackass.
Dude: i have a beer as cold as my ex girlfriend's heart
Other dude: When you get one as big as her ASS...let me know!
Then the first dude, like, high-fives his dudebro. Bros before hos, amirite?!?!?
Look, I don't know this gentleman's former ladyfriend. Perhaps she is cold-hearted. But I think there is a greater probability that he's disrespecting her because he is bitter.
And then his dudebro chimes in, "ALSO SHE WAS FAT LOLOLOLOL." This is not an insult, but these two brodudes clearly think it is.
I'm beginning to see why the two of you broke up, jackass.
Monday, December 20, 2010
You Also Fail the Decency Exam
Oh my heavens, there is so much fail to choose from today. But I have to go with . . .
Today's Failbook fail: Extra Credit?
It's some douchebag's status message, that is, in its entirety: "I had to buckle in the lady who gave me my driving test because she was too fat to do it herself and she still failed me."
Let me get this straight. You can't drive well enough to meet your state's licensure criteria. But you expect to be passed, regardless of your abilities, because you had to help your examiner buckle her safety belt.
Am I missing something? Do fat people lose their right to do their job properly? Did buckling that belt cause such hardship for this d-bag that s/he could no longer summon the energy to drive to the standards of the exam? Is there any correlation at all here, or any message besides "fat people are subhuman"?
My contempt is boundless, truly.
Today's Failbook fail: Extra Credit?
It's some douchebag's status message, that is, in its entirety: "I had to buckle in the lady who gave me my driving test because she was too fat to do it herself and she still failed me."
Let me get this straight. You can't drive well enough to meet your state's licensure criteria. But you expect to be passed, regardless of your abilities, because you had to help your examiner buckle her safety belt.
Am I missing something? Do fat people lose their right to do their job properly? Did buckling that belt cause such hardship for this d-bag that s/he could no longer summon the energy to drive to the standards of the exam? Is there any correlation at all here, or any message besides "fat people are subhuman"?
My contempt is boundless, truly.
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